Canopy support



' CANOPY SUPPORT Filed July 31, 1967 A 1 1 5f AWM/@7% TOENEYS UnitedStates Patent() 3,486,514 CANOPY SUPPORT Kenneth W. Prescott, 4832 OldVestal Road, Binghamton, N.Y. 13903 Filed July 31, 1967, Ser. No.657,141 Int. Cl. A45b 17/00; E041 10/02 ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Acanopy support comprising a rotatably'supported vertically extendingpost; a balanced arm which is supported adjacent the upper end of saidpost for pivotal movement about a horizontally extending axis and isprovided with means adjacent one end thereof for adjustably mounting acanopy for universal movement with respect thereto; and means adapted toselectively pivot the balanced arm to vary lateral displacement of'thecanopy with respect to the post.

SUMMARY The present invention relates to a canopy support and moreparticularly to an improved `support of the type adapted to position acanopy above an area to be sh-aded which is laterally displaced from theground engaging portion of the support.

Heretofore various devices have been proposed for supporting canopies orumbrellas in such a manner that the area being shaded from the sun orprotected from rain is uncluttered by the canopy support.Conventionally, such canopy supports include either a bent or curvedpost which extendsupwardly and laterally from a ground support or base,or a vertically extending post having a horizontally extending armailxed to the upper end thereof. The canopy to be supported is suitablyclamped to the upwardly extending end of the bent post or to the freenon-supported end of the post mounted arm. For the. most part, priorcanopy supporting devices of the type described are stationarystructures which are employed to position a canopy only over a givenarea to be shaded, such as a table, which is closely adjacent the groundsupport.

When it is desired to provide shade for another, even though closelyspaced, area, it is necessary to remove the canopy support from theground and transfer the support to a point adjacent the new area to beshaded. Further, many prior devices, even maintained in a given positionrelative to the area to be shaded, are not able to effectively provideshade due to motion of the sun.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a canopy supportwhich is adapted to be permanently mounted at a suitable location withina yard, tennis court, pool or patio area and be gmployed to adjustablysupport a canopy so as to selectively shade any desired area within agiven distance from the ground support.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a canopysupport adapted to adjustably position a canopy in such a manner that adesired area may be shaded irrespective of the relative movement of thesun.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a canopysupport which requires a minimum amount of effort on the part of anoperator to adjust.

'Ihese and other objects of the present invention will more fully appearfrom the following description taken with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the canopy support according tothe present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 inFIGURE 1; and

ice

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIGURE l.

y of shaft 19 is threaded to receive a wing nut 20', which,.

Referring to FIGURE l, it Will be seen that the canopy support accordingto the present invention, which is generally designated as 1, includes asupport post 2, which is removably positioned within a socket 3. Socket3 may be permanently anchored within a concrete foundation 4 inserted inground 5 or other suitable base, such as a patio floor, not shown.Preferably, both post 2 and socket 3 are of circular cross-section topermit the canopy support to be rotated through 360. Rotational movementof post 2 within socket 3 is facilitated by forming the socket with alower end Wall, as at 6, and positioning a ball-thrust bearing 7 betweenthe lower end of the post and socket end wall 6. Preferably, an annularcollar or flange 8 is aixed to post 2 to minimize ingress of water intothe space between the post and the socket and socket end wall 6 isprovided with one or more apertures, not shown, to permit drainage ofmoisture collected in the socket. Suitable means, such as a set screw,not shown, may be provided to adjustably lock post 2 in a desiredvertical position within socket 3.

The upwardly extending end of post 2 is adapted to support a fixture 9formed with a pair of spaced flanges 10, only one being shown in FIGURE1, which are bored to receive a suitable pivot shaft 11. Fixture 9 maybe permanently or removably aixed to post 2 in any suitable manner, notshown.

The balanced arm, generally indicated as 12, is adapted to be supportedon fixture 9 by pivot shaft 11 for pivotal movement within a verticalplane. Preferably, arm 12 is of thin tubular construction, which may bereenforced by a suitable truss structure 13. In the preferred embodimentof the present invention, arm 12 and truss 13 are formed of two sectionsadapted to be telescoped together, as indicated at 14. Any suitablemeans not shown, may be employed to lock the sections in a desiredtelescoped position.

Now referring to FIGURES 1 and 3, it Iwill be seen that a canopy to besupported, 15, is adapted to be adjustably mounted for universalm-ovement on one end of arm 12. The mounting arrangement illustratedincludes a hinged fitting, indicated generally as 16, which comprisesrst and second members 17, 18, which are hinged together for relativemovement by a shaft 19. One end tting member 18 is bored, as at 21, toreceive a suitable` canopy supporting pin or shaft 22, and member 17 isprovided with a reduced diameter cylindrical extension 23, adapted to beslidably and rotatably received within arm 12, as indicated in phantomin FIGURE 3. Canopy supporting pin 22 may be formed integrally with hubportion 15' of the canopy or may be removably received Within a boreopening provided therein. Extension 23 may be releasably locked withinarm 12 by any suitable means, such as a thumb screw 24 which is adaptedto be received within a threaded opening in arm 12 and bear againstexten-sion 23. If desired, a similar locking arrangement, not shown, maybe employed to releasably lock canopy supporting pin 22 within fittingmember bore 21.

Again referring to FIGURE l, it will be seen that pivotal movement ofarm 12 and thus canopy 15 above the axis of pivot shaft 11 due to theinuence of gravity, is effectively prevented by one yor morecounter-balancing weights 2S, which are preferably mounted foradjustment lengthwise of arm 12, as by means of screw threads. It Iwillbe apparent that -by threadably mounting weights 2'5 on the arm foradjustment with respect to pivot shaft 11, the arm may be properlybalanced irrespectful of telescopic adjustment of the arm and trusssections.

Now referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, it will be apparent that balanced arm12 may be selectively moved intovarious pivotable positions by means ofan assembly including a hand crank operated pulley 26 and a cable 27.Hand crank operated pulley 26 may be mounted for rotation on shaft 2 byany suitable means, such as a pin bearing 28. As indicated in FIGURES 1and 2, the respective ends of cable 27 are suitably connected to arm 12at points oppositely spaced from pivot shaft 11 and the cableintermediate the ends thereof is wound one or more turns around pulley26. Preferably, cable 27 is maintained in a taut condition and thesurface of the pulley 26 is roughened to increase the degree offrictional contact between the pulley and cable. It will be apparentthat manual rotation of the crank operated pulley serves tosimultaneously wind and unwind equal lengths of cable from the pulley,whereby the balanced arm 12 is forced to pivot about shaft 11, asindicated in phantom in FIG- URE 1.

To insure against undesired pivotal movement of balanced arm 12 withrespect to pivot shaft 11, due to high wind forces, it has been foundpreferable to provide a suitable friction or mechanical lock, not shown,to maintain pulley 26 in the desired rotational position.

While a .specific embodiment of the present invention has been shown anddescribed, various modifications and additions thereto will becomeapparent to one skilled in the art, and thus the scope of the presentinvention is to be limited as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A canopy support comprising a post adapted to be mounted on a base;an arm; means adapted to support said arm intermediate the ends thereofon said post for pivotal movement above a horizontally disposed axis,said arm having means adapted to adjustably mount a canopy adjacent afirst end thereof and having counter-balance means adjacent the otherend thereof tending to prevent pivotal movement of said arm about saidpivot axis under the influence of gravity when a canopy is mountedthereon; and means adapted to selectively move said balanced arm into adesired pivotal position, the means to adjustably mount a canopyincluding a hinged fitting whereby the canopy may be rotated relative tosaid arm.

2. The canopy support according to claim 1, wherein said arm movingmeans includes a crank operated pulley rotatably supported on said postand a cable having the ends thereof connected to said arm at pointsoppositely spaced from .said arm pivot axis, said cable intermediate theends thereof being wound upon said pulley.

3. The canopy support according to claim 1, wherein said arm betweensaid first end and said arm pivot axis is formed with telescopic armsections, and said counterbalancing means is adjustably mounted on Saidarm.

`4. The combination of a canopy and a support for mounting said canopyon a base, wherein the support comprises: a post adapted to be mountedon said base; an arm; means adapted to support said arm intermediate theends thereof on said post for pivotal movement about a horizontallydisposed axis; means adapted to adjustably mount said canopy on a firstend of said arm including a hinged fitting whereby said canopy may berotated relative to said arm; counter-balance means disposed adjacentthe other end of said arm and tending to prevent pivotal movement ofsaid arm and canopy about said vpivot axis due to the influence ofgravity; and means adapted to selectively control pivotal positioning ofsaid balanced arm.

5. A combination according to claim 4, wherein said arm position controlmeans includes a crank-operated pulley rotatably supported on said postand a cable having the ends thereof connected to said arm at pointsoppositely .spaced from said arm pivot axis, said cable intermediate theends thereof being wound about said pulley.

6. The combination of a canopy and a support for mounting said canopy ona base, wherein the support comprises: a post adapted to be mounted onsaid base; an arm; means adapted to support said arm intermediate theends thereof on said post for pivotal movement about a horizontallydisposed axis; means adapted to mount said canopy on a first end of saidarm; counter-balance means disposed adjacent the other end of said armand tending to prevent pivotal movement of said arm and canopy aboutsaid pivot axis due to the influence of gravity; and means adapted toselectively control pivotal positioning of said balanced arm, said meansfor mounting said canopy on said first arm including first and secondmembers joined together for relative pivotal movement, means adapted toselectively lock said members in a desired pivotal position, means toadjustably mount said first member for rotational movement about an axisextending lengthwise of said arm, and means to mount said canopy on saidsecond member.

7. The combination of a canopy and a support for mounting said canopy ona base, wherein the support comprises: a post adapted to be mounted onSaid base; an arm; means adapted to support said arm intermediate theends thereof on `Said post for pivotal movement about a horizontallydisposed axis; means adapted to mount said canopy on a first end of saidarm; counter-balance means disposed adjacent the other end of said armand tending to prevent pivotal movement of said arm and canopy aboutsaid pivot axis due to the influence of gravity; and means adapted toselectively control pivotal positioning of said balanced arm, said postbeing cylindrical and said support including means for mounting saidpost on said .base for rotational movement about an axis extendinglengthwise of said post, said mounting means comprising a cylindricalmember having a closed lower end portion; and a thrust bearing adaptedto be disposed between said closed end portion of said cylindricalmember and fthe lower end portion of said post when said post is'arranged within said member in mounted position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 775,158 11/1904 lWenig 182-65 X882,371 3/1908 Caflisch 182-68 951,433 3/1910 Carey 212-58 2,479,7208/1949 Brandt 248-123 2,559,421 7/1951 Garrett. 2,905,187 9/1959 Croce.2,485,118 10'/ 1949 Simpson.

FOREIGN PATENTS 409,209 2/ 1910 France.

PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner Us. c1. XR. 13S-zo; 248-123

